“Jackal!”
I’m almost to the barn when Phoenix comes charging out of the house wearing black rubber work boots over her tights. It looks like she’s about to leap into my arms; I brace myself, but she comes to an abrupt stop instead. We’re standing in mud, the smell of manure and wet grass clinging to the air. She’s beautiful; I have to catch my breath. Her eyes are bright, but there are dark smudges of makeup beneath them. She blinks at me slowly.
“Don’t go,” she says.
I see her throat move convulsively as she swallows. I reach out impulsively, my fingers caressing her throat. She closes her eyes at my touch, and I almost kiss her right then and there.
“Stay awhile,” she says. “You just got here.”
“You want me to stay?”
“No!” she says quickly. “I mean...yes. You came all this way...”
“Say you want me to stay.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. I just asked you to stay.”
“But sayyouwant me to stay.”
She looks around exasperated, hands on her hips. The wind lifts up stray pieces of her hair, lifting them from her face. She fills her cheeks with air and lets it out slowly, eyes closed.
“I want you to stay.”
“Now say: I want you…”
Her eyes fly open. “Jackal!”
I hold up my hands, laughing. “Okay, okay! Just trying my luck.”
Gwen raises her eyebrows when we walk back through the door.
“What?” Phoenix snaps at her.
“Nothing. Geez, lay off the aggression.”
They glare at each other and I’m not sure if a girl fight is about to happen, but then they both start laughing. They make a small dinner of vegetables and bread, and we carry it to the living room near the fireplace. The rain has chilled the air, and Phoenix asks me to build a fire. I’m so honored she asked anything of me, I’m determined to build the most spectacular fire she’s ever seen in her life.
They exchange stories about the Regions, what they’ve heard is going on.
“Black pulled out of the trade treaty last week. After Laticus died, they called for the Red to be expelled, but the Statehead voted no,” Phoenix tells us.
It has to be Sean feeding her this information. I wonder what else he knows.
“The lower end of almost every Region is with the Revolution. They play your speeches on a loop,” she tells Gwen. “There are few supporters in the upper, but they fear for their quality of life if things were to change.”
She glances at the sudden roar of the fire as the sparks ignite. The small upward tilt on her lips fills me with such satisfaction, I feel more of a rush than I did with the jump I took earlier.
“You should do a broadcast while you’re here,” Phoenix says. “Keep the fire burning. The Statehead and the Society are scaring people into being quiet.”
“Talk about Marcus,” I say suddenly.
They both look at me thoughtfully before nodding.
“He’s right,” Gwen says, looking at Phoenix.
It’s almost as if I’m not even here.
“The reason they were trying to move Laticus into the End Men before he was of age was because they were down an End Man. They were trying to avoid the panic that would ensue when people found out he was suddenly sterile,” she adds.